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Tous las autrea axemplailres orlginaux sont filmis en sommenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impreaaion ou d'iilustration at en terminant par la darnlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants appara*tra sur !a darnlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUiVRE", le symbols Y signifie "l-IN". Les cartas, planches, tableaux, etc., pauvent Atre filmie A des taux de rMuctlon diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre raprodult en un saul ciichi, ii est film* A partir da ('angle supArleur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant la nombre d'images nAcessaire. Las diagrammes suivants illustrant la mithoda. 6 Sibrarg KINGSTON, ONTARIO THE SACREDNESS OF LEARNING: ADDRESS Delivered at the Opening of Seaaiou 1864-65, Qneen's College, BT THE VERY REV'D PRINCIPAL SNODQRASS. KINGSTON 1864. h THE SACREDNESS OF LEARNING. Gbntlkvin,— The learninpr which yoa come hither to acquire, which it is the high function of a University to impart, is characterized by tnany qualities, each of them affording abun- dant scope and material for prnfltable discus* sion. To the studious mind it offers an inex- haustible luxury of interest with which to regale the noblest faculties and feed the purest cravings of our nature. To the youth whose soul has begr.n to burn with the desire to equip himself, as fully i^s he possibly can, for that which he recognizes to be the great end of his being, namely, the service of his Maker and his species, it justly appears to be invested with the greatest utility. And, without attempting to specify all the excellencies which belong to It, it is worthy of observation that when we are actually engaged in the pur- suit of it, we perceive Its varied i-haracteristici to b« constantly uniting in the formation of most attractive combinations, which in their turn contribute force to the impetus that urjfei as oft. Per example, the interesting claracter of the details of a (Subject for Which we hav* acquired a special reli8h,ii immensely augment' ed by the discovery of adaptations to practical purposes; and again, the usefulnets of any dtpartment of knowledge, if not increased at to its sphere, ii very greatly enhanced as to ill WKW— *^WF*"*» 39704 value, when our path to the application t. results lies through a succesBion of exercises, in the conducting of which all difficulties are chnrmed away by the pleasure they aflFord. From these and other similar qualities of learn- ing the earnest student derives many powerful incentives to persevere in his daily round of self-imposed and cheerful toil. There is, how- ever, one feature of it the existence of which it is of special importance to recognize, the in- fluence of which it is a paramount duty to feel. I mean its sacredneas, that characteristic for which supremacy must be claimed in every proper estimate of the subject. If the present occasion is seasonable, as I preoume it is, for ofltring to you any observations which are fitted to excite in you a just regard for your high vocation as learners, and to induce you to walk worthily of it, I consider the topic now indicated, the sacredneas of learning, to be eminently adapted to these ends, and venture to hope that an attempt to illustrate this view will not be altogether fruitless of advantage. Let us, first of all, agree as to what may be fairly understood by the sacredness of learn- ing. The subject of this term is in common language chiefly used as synonymous with knowledge, in the sense of an acquaintance or familiarity with things that may be known. The signification may be accepted as far as it goes. Philosophically considered, its faultiness consists in its being too contracted as to its general application, in its being limited to the greater or less number of facts which one is enabled to gather into the treasury of the mind. The popular notion of a roan of learn- ing sets up , for our admiration, the individual who, upon ft variety of aubjects, has m%d« I himself conversant, no matter how — it may be by a mere eflfort of memory— with the authen- ticated results of other men's inquiries, such as are attainable in a certain class of books to which the virtue of making learning easy is very erroneously ascribed ; and, agreeably to that notion, it is not uncommon to represeni the idol of its creation, with more truth than attractiveness, as a walking encyclopedia or a dungeon of learning. Let us not unduly de- preciate this species of knowledge, nor the labour spent in its acquisition. It gives its possessor a position in which he can be plea- santly serviceable to a very large portion of his fellow beings ; it answers the same purpose as the ready reckoner on the counter of the shopkeeper, who knows or practices so little of mental arithmetic that he cannot trust him- self in making the simplest calculations. But, with every desire to value it justly, it is obvious to remark that the faculty almost exclusively employed, namely, the faculty of memory, is but a very small part, and, as regards the for- mation of character, a comparatively unim- portant part of the whole man which is the subject of education ; and therefore, that how- ever extensively exercised in the accumulation of facts, and however retentive and ready it may be, the most successful cultivation of it falls far short of what is demanded by an adequate claim to learning ; and, unfortunately it is that part of our intellectual nature exces- sive attention to which is most likely to impair those sentiments of self-reliance and independ- ence, which are essential elements in the com- position of every rightly constituted, thorough student. The true idea and definition of learning 6 cover a much larger, at least a much more diversified, ground than the popular notion of it. They embrace both the method of exerci- sing correctly the mental powers by which knowledge is acquired, and the oflTect of that exercise upon the whole nature of the inquirer. Learning is an art ; properly speaking it is the alpha and omega of all the arts, having every variety of truth as its subject, and the incor- poration of truth with man's spiritual organi- zation, for the development of intellectual and moral life, as its grand result. To be even moderately proficient in it requires not only laborious application, but also, and much more a careful, judicious, and conscientious direction of every eflTort. There must be earnestness as well as activity in the cultivation of it, and yet sympathy with the subject must not inter- fere with the calm and deliberate treatment of it. But then, this art of learning gives you a much higher style of being than the mere col- lector of information, who with all his treas- ures of knowledge may be a very uneducated person, whoso knowledge may be more of a burden than a benefit to his spiritual system, more of a hindrance than an aid to self-culture. The purpose of learning is not to fill up so much vacancy, like that of the man, who, intent on furnishing the shelves of his library purchases good looking volumes by measure- ment, say at so much per foot, without any regard to the quality of their contents ; but to discipline our capacities in such a way as that they shall always be in readiaess and under control, for any exercise that may be required of them in the life-long business of learning, and that by means of them we shall ever duly appreciate and fefci, whether as a necessity or an enjoymeat, the power of truth under which it is our only noble aim to live. Hence, with a little learning properly acquired, a man mny be greatly superior to the possessor of vast storss of knowledge. The better of two ma- thematicians is not ^0 who can recite without mistake all the propositions of Euclid, but hv who is 80 app \tive of the exactness of mathematical truih and so skilled in its appli- cation, that he finds little difficulty in the so- lution of the hardest problems. The better of two classical scholars is not he who has read the greater number of works, but ho who is so familiarized with the structure of languages and the principles of their interpretation, that he can at any time arrange a passage for translation, and in choice terms convey the nicest shades of meaning. And hence, also, it can never be too frequently or deeply impressed upon those who seek the education which it is the special design of Universities to furnish, that it is not the function of that class of in- stitutions to cram the mind with classic lore or scientific information, but rather to givo the right direction to the love and habit of study, such a direction as is suited to a certain stage of mental development, such as will best qualify a man to be a learner, such as will teach him al^^ays with humility to remember, that the true stature of his manhood is not dis- tinguished by the crown of knowledge, which may be anything but a crown of glory, but by large, and wise, and generous syirpathies with truth, the substance of all knowledge worth acquiring — sympathies which bring the human into harmony with the divine, which restore in the finite understanding a filial resemblance to the infinite. lor this learning the quality of sacreduess 18 claimable. Ordinarily those things are accounted sacred which are specially recog- nized as belonging to God, or which, under the impulse of religious conviction, are sol- emnly devoted to God. When it is felt to be necessary to distinguish them from other things, the latter are described as common, because not set apart in any way to the service and glory of the Divine Being; or secular, because not supposed to lie within the domain or under the control of religion. It is so convenient to have terms indicative of such distinctions; moreover, we are so accustomed to f,e use of them, that one feels reluctant to start an ob- jection or raise e quarrel respecting theu. It may be sufficient 'o remember the general principle, thai the language of mankind is con- structed to express their ideas of the qualities and relations of things, and that tl erefore such distinctions as those referred to have not necessarily any real existence. In truth they have not any real existence ; and their per- sistent maintenance in current phraseology is only an unconscious but condemnatory wit- ness to the sin of profanlty-the sin of regard- ing as other than sacred anything soever which IS of God, from Him, or to Him. This matter 18 decisively determined, determined bevond all dispute, when we ■ ppeal it to the authority of God's written revelation, wherein, if any- where, we may hope to find a language ex- pressive of the actual and the real as seen by the Eternal Source of intelligence and truth. In the sacred volume God is declared to be the originator of all things but sin, which is an abhorrence to his nature and a profanation of his works ; the institutor of all relations ; a the ijfiver of all laws ; the disposer of all oveati : the conaammator of all sjatemM. The Pai^mist witnesseth toj a perpetual homage ascending from all partA of the Almighty's doiAiniona — "AH Thy works praise Thee." Saint Paul asserts an omnipresent essence, ent>rgy and purpose—" By Him all things consist." The same Apostle describes, while he enforces, the principle and end to which restored hvmanity should willingly subject itself—" Do all to the glory of Qod." And, in the reproving and correcting words addressed to Peter in his vision, though prin Arilyar-^Ued to a particular case, we have a ground for that "earnest ex- pectation of the creature," according to which, by the power of redoinption, it shall be deliv- ered from the bondage of corruption—" What God hath cleansed that call not thou common." Gentlemen, this authority is supren"). By the holiest and most constraining considera- tions you are bound to defer to it. Recognize it in every exercise of those intellectual powers and moral sentiments with which your Maker hath endowed you. Recognize it in all the sources and means of instruction, which, by a divinely beneficent arrangement, profusely and invitingly surround you — in your perusal of the records of history, every page of which bears convincing testimony to the invisible but omnipresent hand that holds the direction and shapes the issue of all events— in your study of the book of nature where each relation you observe, each law you discover, each symbol jou interpret, is an exponent of the marvellous skill with which the Father of lights hath, everywhere, on land and skie^, on air and seas, photographed the glory of his perfec^'ons— in your inquiries ipto the physical structure and 10 spiritual organization of the individual man, and into the universal conditions, diversifying distinctions, and ultimate destiny of hm-'inity, all of which demand tho belief, as the/ are pregnant with the evidence of, a moral govern- ment. Recognize, especially recognize -t, in the bearings, upon personal development and social progress, upon the consciousness of res- ponsibility and the aspiration after fulness of Jife, of that many-sided but single purpose for which it is given us to know anything of the past, present, and future, anything of the uni- verse, of ourselves, of God. And what is the eflFect oF chis devout recognition? It is un- questiocably to invest the art, the subject, and the fruits of learning with the character of aacredness ; and, therefore, either to abolish the common and the secular, or to resolve them into the profaned,--the result of a sacrilegious contact, on the part of creatures spiritually disordered and morally unclean, with the holy furniture of the stupendous temple which the Architect of the universe hath erected and consecrated, for the showing forth of his praise. To truth, which is at once the subject of learning and the aliment of the learner, belongs in point of importance, according to its nature a multiplicity of varying degrees; but even' when marked by the lowest, it has the essence of which the highest is only a mod/l form ; and truth is always and in all circumstances a very sacred thing-as surely, in its own way and withm its own sphere, an expression of divine character and will, as any word which ever proceeded from the mouth of God. There are truths so simple, so universally believed and implicitly acted upon, that we do not stop to 11 A inquire, and if we did might not be able to discover, what is their exact relation to the system of truth as a whole and to the highest truths in particular; but not the less on that account are thej to be regarded as emanations from the Infinite Source of truth — links in that mighty chain which girds and binds all things together, each of them more or less remotely situated from the point of fixture in the throne of the Unchangeable, but each of them essen- tial to the integrity of God's government and necessary to the interests of his intelligent creatures. The work which has to do with this sacred thing, namely, the pursuit of learning, com- prehending all those exercises, whether of mind or body, of the understanding or the heart, or of the whole combined, by which truth is dis- covered, weighed, arranged, appropriated, and felt, is a sacred occupation. By it we are in- troduced, through our first and simplest lessons, to the mysteries of creation, providence, and grace ; by it we handle the tokens of a presi- ding Deity ; by it we hold deep and secret communings with the mind oi' the Invisible. We devote the powers which we have of God to the task of acquainting ourselves with the rorks and ways of God. To learn how to learn— to know with what humility and rever- ence we should comport ourselves as we approach any department of knowledge or tread the courts of the temple of truth, is, therefore, the first and most important part of education. As to the fruits of learning, these too, if sound and if seasonably gathered, are to be estimated as "Hcred. If truth be the subject of learning, the genuine results of learning must a correspond in kind thereto. Learuiug to be worth anything must enter largely into the formation of the student's character. Therein lies its highest use— to enlighten, purify, ele- vate, and refine. The moral power which comes from this, aind not the dead weight of knowledge, is the proper measure of a learned man. A truthful character is the most sacred, an untruthftil the profanest of characters. He has yet to begin to learn, yet to know what study means, who, having exhausted all ac- cessible treasures of knowledge, thinks of rest- ing from his labours, with a soul out of har- mony with the sacred and the true. Gentlemen, you must see from wbi t has been advanced how grave and serious a thing it is to assume the garb and take the distinc- tive rank of a student — not so grave and serious as to destroy all sense of pleasure and love of recreation, for he who has no cheerful- ness in mental effort had better desist from it, and he who neglects the physical from an ex- clusive devotion to spiritual training, under- stands not, but perverts the rudimental laws of his being; but yet so grave and serious as to compel you to put yourselves in a watchful, manly attitude, against all false enjoyments and trifling dispositions. Your vocation is the highest, your profession the noblest, to which time and life can be devoted ; for it becometh you to remember that your attendance here is but the beginning of a lifelong course, during the whole of which, (whatever post of active usefulness you may hereafter fill), you will still be learners, if within these walls the true student-spirit shall have been fostered; and learner^ all the more, because of the opportu- nities and facilities for self-instruction which I 13 the discharge of public duty will, by and by, be constantly throwing in your way. A voca- tion so important, a profession which brings you in contact with those realities which are the greatest in heaven and the best on eaith — is worthy of a solemn, prayerful self-consecra- tion—is entitled to the willing servitude of a spirit which knows how to r^pect all means, and agencies, and institutions, appointed of God or dedicated by man, to the sacred cause of learning. There ia especially one sentiment which must not be wanting, which must abide and prevail with you throughout your career. That ^ sentiment is a loving and confiding reverenc* for the God of truth, the Author of that volum* which is usually, but not consistently, divided into the two great sections, natural and reveal- ed and concerning which both the best and the worst of books have been written. This sentiment is that which makes the child place his hand in his father's hand, when be desires and trusts to be led in the way in which hB should go, and as he goes to gather the way- side lessons which it is best for him to learn. The opinion of the wisest man, in regard to the importance of this sentiment and its relation to learning, must be worth quoting and remem- bering. He states it again and again in his own inimitable, aphoristic way. One occasion you can probably recall. It is towards the comraenceraent of the Book of Proverbs, where- in he discourses largely on the subject of know- ledge, and on its excellence as affording mate- rials for the enlightenment of the understand- ing—as fitted, when rightly acquired, to make men wise, trustworthy, useful— as designed to beautify and strengthen the social relalions. 14 Mid generallx to promote the highest intertsti of mankind ; but, ere be adyances one step ia the ccmrse which he prescribes for himself, he takes bis siand on the great first-principle, which in his estimation is the foundation of all knowledge, science, philosophy, or whatever else may designate th« subject of learning—- "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." No view or system can ever im- prove this arrangement; to proceed on any other ie a grand educational blunder. Learn- ing, then, of which knowledge is o ly an im> portant means, begins with the cultivation of a moral sentiment — not with one kind of know- ledge as compared with another, but with a disposition to reverence the Possessor and Giver of all knowledge, whom to know is the end of knowledge, whom in Christ to know is life eternal. He who begins here is the best qualified for the prosecution of inquiries, and ^he obtaining of results. The very circum- stance that he is a God-fearing man fits hira for the adoption of correct views. He is the most likely of all men to avoid fallacious reasonings and rash conclusions. His imagi- nniion is under the most salutary restraint. He is disinclined to indulge in wild, imwar- rantable speculation. Where renson and faith •re at variance, he will distrust his reason ra- ther than make shipwreck of his faith. When science and revelation are brought into coUir sion, he will unhesitatingly pronounce the de- ductions of science to be at fault, rather than incur the impiety of tampering wiih one jot or tittle of God's Holy Word. In the former case he will imperatively demand of reason to re^ trace her steps, humiliated at the discovery of hf>r weakness; in the latter he will insist that 15 the upparcnt diacrepauciea between nature auQ revelation, which science sometimes evolves, be not allowed, but that patience be exercised until further light be obtained, strong in the belief that he who cannot lie hath not caused to be written one word which needs to be re- called, because of its actual disagreement with scientific conclusions. There is not a sadder spectacle than that of a man of lofty intellect, and commandin;: talents, and most plausible pretensions to learning, engaged in the baneful work of adducing the oppositions of science " falsely so called," to shake the faith of hum- bler, less daring minds, in the teachings of tbe Holy Scriptures Despise not, then, the wisdom and security of Solomon's arrangement, for if you miss the beginoing of knowledge your whole course will be wrong and perilous. When the fear of the Lord is not established in the heart, intellec- tual vanity and self-sufficient pride take pos- session of that citadel, and in such a case the more one knows the more unsafe and danger- ous he becomes.